Birthday Girl:  A Finchel OneShot
by coriswriting
Summary: It's Rachel's birthday and Finn's just got to make it one she will never forget...


Birthday Girl: A Finchel One-Shot

Finn sighed contentedly as he lay on his still too-small bed in his room at the new Hudson-Hummel residence that he had just finished moving into. He looked down at his beautiful girlfriend, sound asleep, snuggled into his unbuttoned flannel with him. They hadn't yet found blankets in any of the boxes, but they were so exhausted from unpacking, they decided to just make do. He pulled his shirt around her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing the top of her head ever so gently so as not to wake her. She moved a little, just to nuzzle her cheek against his chest and placed her delicate hand across his heart. He smiled to himself, even in her sleep she could make him feel so loved.

He was so lucky. For a while, he was terrified that he'd never have her in his arms again. But she forgave him, because even after his dishonesty, she couldn't deny that they belonged together. It was just the way it was supposed to be, Finn and Rachel. To everyone else, he was dim-witted, awkward, the quarterback who never could quite cut it, the cute-enough boy who would never be the hottest guy in school. To her, he was precious, special, heroic, her handsome prince. To everyone else, she was a spoiled diva, a hopeless loser, the pariah of McKinley High. To him, she was everything. She was so passionate, so sweet, so unbelievably gorgeous she made his head spin. He thought about Burt's words to his mom at their wedding... _You're everything to me, and I will love you until the day I die._ That was exactly how he felt about Rachel. It didn't matter what the rest of the world thought, because when the two of them were together, the rest of the world didn't exist.

They had been through so much in the last few weeks, from the Santana drama to losing their duet to Quinn and Sam. Next week was her birthday, and he wasn't going to miss this opportunity to make it all up to her. He was going to do whatever he needed to do to make this birthday one she would never forget, but how? He had a few ideas, but he definitely needed some help putting it all together...luckily, he had Kurt for that.

Later that night, after driving Rachel home and getting caught by one of her dads making out in the driveway, Finn returned home and knocked on his stepbrother's bedroom door.

"Come in!" called Kurt.

Finn entered the room to find Kurt poring over paint samples and fabric swatches.

"Hey Finn, I'm having so much trouble choosing the color palette for this space. I was thinking about going with earth tones, but I'm just not sure I can pull it off with my coloring, you know?" mused Kurt.

"Um, yeah," muttered Finn, "hey, I was wondering if you could help me out with something, a sort of event planning thing, and I know you're really good with that stuff."

"Well, yes, of course, Finn, were you not just at the wedding of the century that I pulled off a few weeks ago?" grinned Kurt. "So what is this special event for which my services are needed?" he asked.

"Okay, so next week is Rachel's birthday, and I've got to do something amazing," Finn began, "you know everything she's been through in the past few weeks, and I know she's not always you're favorite person, but she's, like, my princess, and I really want to make her feel like one."

"Finn, I know how important Rachel is to you. And I'm thankful for how kind she's been to me these past few months...plus I know she's going to be my sister-in-law one day, so I'd better stay in her good graces," he grinned.

"Totally, dude," Finn laughed.

"So what did you have in mind?" asked Kurt.

"Well, I was thinking, like, a really romantic dinner where it's all dark, but there's those little white Christmas lights, and then I wanna sing to her and slow dance, but I need more lessons, and I should wear a suit..." Finn's head was swimming with all of the details he hadn't thought of before. Like how would he get her there, and how he would make sure she was wearing that red dress from his mom's wedding that made his heart stop...

"Okay Finn, I think I've got the picture," Kurt chuckled before his expression turned serious. "Let's do this," he said, "you're going to blow Ms. Berry away, with a little help from your personal fairy godmother...by the way, only I am allowed to call myself that, got it?"

"Got it," laughed Finn.

The next Friday, Rachel received a beautifully written invitation in her locker. It read,

"Happy Birthday, my Princess.

Put on your ball gown,

your chariot will pick you up at 8.

Your prince will be waiting for you.

All my love,

Finn"

Rachel bubbled with excitement as she got ready for her surprise. Other than her dads, no one had ever tried to do anything special for her birthday before. But of course her Finny would do something to make her feel special. In spite of the events of the past few weeks, she had grown to love him even more. He was just hers, and nothing would ever change that, she thought to herself as she slipped on the red dress from his mom's wedding. She would never forget the way he told her she looked amazing, and how magical it felt when he swept her up in his arms and twirled her down the aisle. She sighed as she noticed a car pull into her driveway.

Kissing her dads goodbye, she ran out to the car giddily, practically skipping in her high heels. She was surprised when Kurt stepped out of the car to open the door for her.

"I've come to take you to your prince, my dear," said Kurt. "He wanted to be waiting for you when you walked in...plus, I've got a much nicer car."

Rachel smiled to herself as they drove. Kurt would make a fine brother-in-law one day, she thought. After a few moments, Rachel was taken by surprise when they pulled into the McKinley High parking lot. After helping her out of the car, Kurt offered her his arm and escorted her into the building, down the empty hallway, and to the door of the choir room.

"My lady, your prince awaits," he said before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Happy Birthday Rachel, have a wonderful time."

Kurt turned and headed out of the building. Rachel opened the door of the choir room and gasped at what she saw.

There he was, her beautiful Finn, grinning away, looking so incredible in his dark suit. There were no lights on in the choir room, just glowing candles everywhere. Pink rose petals were sprinkled all around the floor, matching the single rose Finn held in his hand. He walked over to her, smiling broadly.

"Finn..." she said dreamily, "wow..."

"Hi, baby," he whispered softly in her ear, brushing her cheek with a tender kiss. "Happy birthday, honey. I wanted to do something special, and I thought what better place to do it than the room where I fell in love with you more times than I could count, and where you helped me find myself. I know these past few weeks haven't been easy, baby, but it's just shown me that we can get through anything."

Finn breathed deeply as he continued, "I wanted to sing for you, but I really wanted it to be just you and me, you know, without like, the whole band watching and everything...so...I actually had Kurt teach me something on the piano. It's nothing spectacular or anything, but I've really been practicing hard, and I hope you like it."

Rachel could barely breath as Finn sat down nervously at the piano. Then he slowly, painstakingly began to play the simple, sweet melody as he sang,

"Love me tender,

Love me sweet,

Never let me go.

You have made my life complete,

and I love you so.

Love me tender,

Love me true,

all my dreams fulfilled,

for my darling,

I love you,

and I always will."

He looked up at her sheepishly as he finished the last note. She leapt into his lap, grabbed his face, and kissed him tenderly as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Oh, Finn," she whispered between kisses, "that was the most beautiful song I've ever heard, and it will be as long as I live."

"I'm so glad you liked it, angel," he said, sliding his hands around her waist, "but there's more...I cooked!" he said proudly.

"I did have a little help from my accomplice," he said. "Kurt came up with this vegan menu, but I helped, I swear," he said, pointing to a table that was set in the corner.

Rachel smiled. He had thought of everything. She loved the meal he had made, though she didn't touch her lovely place setting, as she preferred to sit in his lap and kiss his neck between spoonfuls of vegan chocolate mousse. After dessert, he gently lifted her off of his lap and walked over to his iPod set up near the piano.

"Let's dance," he said softly, as "Faithfully" by Journey began to play.

"Remember this?" he whispered as he pulled her close to him and ran his fingers along her spine.

"I'll never forget it," she breathed, tousling his thick, gorgeous hair with her fingers. "And I'll never forget tonight, Finn. No one has ever made me feel so special. I'll always remember his as the most incredible night of my life...I mean, except for our wedding of course," she giggled.

"Except for that," Finn beamed, and pressed his lips against hers. She returned the kiss passionately.

"Let's sit down," she whispered, "this might go on for awhile."

Finn grinned as they continued to kiss, settling down in his usual choir room seat with Rachel on his lap. He reminded himself to thank Kurt...and to tell him he had no more than three years to come up with a perfect proposal setting.


End file.
